The probe committee formed by the Bangladesh Government (BG) Press authorities has found lack of administrative discipline and control over its confidential section as major factors in the recent question leak scam.

The cabinet purchase committee yesterday approved the re-tendering of two 50-megawatt power plants in which a Chinese company has won the contract offering a much lower price than that of the winner in the previous tender.

A Dhaka court yesterday sent to the International Crimes Tribunal a case filed against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, its secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and seven others for killing freedom fighters in 1971.

Muttiah Muralidaran has said that retiring after taking his 800th wicket and helping Sri Lanka win his farewell Test, against India in Galle, was one of the greatest moments in his life. Murali's 800th was the last Indian wicket in the follow-on, after which Sri Lanka chased the target of 95 without losing a wicket.

BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain yesterday said although the special parliamentary committee to amend the constitution was formed following the constitution but terms of its reference is incomplete and unclear.

At least 40 people were injured yesterday when garment workers of Nassa Group in Ashulia ransacked two factories and clashed with law-enforcers demanding removal of some factory officials and withdrawal of cases filed against the workers.

Two Dhaka courts yesterday placed two detained assistant secretaries general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Md Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla on an 11-day remand each in four separate cases against them.

Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) yesterday halted movements of Islamic University (IU), Kushtia transport, resulting in a freeze in academic and administrative activities of the university.

Fresh clashes between Shia Huthi rebels and army-backed tribes in north Yemen killed 20 people, a tribal official said yesterday, bringing to at least 69 the death toll in five days of fighting that has rattled a fragile truce.

Editorial

A fifteen-member special committee of lawmakers has been formed by the Jatiyo Sangsad to study the ways and means of putting the country back on constitutional rails in light of the judicial judgement nullifying the fifth amendment to the constitution. A nation's constitution is a crucial document responsible for helping it chart its course to the future. That is why we believe that the move to bring about the necessary amendments to the constitution vis-a-vis restoring its original form is a serious task that must be approached pragmatically. In its essence, the 1972 constitution, for all the changes that have been wrought in it over the years, remains a fine document for the country. The liberal democratic principles it enshrined through its various articles have by and large given us reason for hope about our future.

Death of a woman while undergoing diagnostic test at a private clinic at the Dhanmondi area of the city has again raised the disconcerting question of safety standards in our hospitals. The mayhem that the unexpected death of the woman set off among her relatives leading to vandalisation of two clinics in the area and beating up of doctors was, however, an undesirable sequel to that tragedy. But there is also little room here to make light of the attending doctors' responsibility to come up with a satisfactory explanation for the unwarranted death.

At the start of his final Test, he was eight wickets short of entering territory that no other cricketer had. He began his last day in Test cricket needing two, and took one. His partner threatened to take everything else and he could do nothing but keep on bowling, and wait. The umpire denied him a palpable lbw. VVS Laxman, who kept him at bay for so many hours, ran himself out and there was only one wicket left to take. He waited and perhaps even fretted. He nearly ran out the last pair himself, twice. After 23 wicketless overs, with perhaps growing doubt about whether it would come at all, the moment arrived, and Muttiah Muralidaran was there, where no man had gone before. The long wait for the 800th wicket only exemplified the toil that went into the preceding 799. And by the way, Sri Lanka won his farewell Test too, by ten wickets for the seventh time.

At the start of the 59th minute in the Uruguay-Germany play-off for bragging rights for the third place in the World Cup, a strange thing happened. It was strange, because for the duration of the month long extravaganza in South Africa, it had not been spotted, and if anyone cares enough to look through the archived footage one day, it is well worth a wager that claim will stand the test.

The semifinal lineups of all 11 categories in the Southeast Bank National Boxing Championship were completed yesterday when 28 players moved into the round of last four from their respective categories at the Mohammad Ali Boxing Stadium.

CONFIDENCE CEMENTIn line with unaudited half yearly accounts as of June 30, the company reported net profit of Tk 128.54 million with earnings per share (EPS) of Tk 51.25 against Tk 78.96 million and Tk 31.48 (restated) respectively for the same period of the previous year. Net profit was Tk 75.11 million with EPS of Tk 29.95 for the period of three months to June 30 against Tk 39.47 million and Tk 15.74 (restated) respectively for the same a-year-ago period.

Oil rose on Thursday after better than expected euro zone manufacturing and services data, but rising U.S. oil inventories and fears about the broader U.S. economy, the world's largest, kept prices in check.

A solar panel with a capacity of 30-kilowatt (KW) was formally inaugurated at the headquarters of Director General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) yesterday in an effort to conserve non-renewable energy sources.

Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, CHT unit, yesterday accorded a warm reception to chief of Chakma Circle Barrister Raja Debashis Roy as he was recently elected a member of the United Nations (UN) Permanent Forum for Indigenous Affairs in Asia.

Police recovered a huge number of lethal weapons from different dormitories of Hajee Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) on Wednesday and Tuesday nights. The arms include billhooks, cleavers, daggers, long knives, iron rods and hockey sticks. However, none was arrested during the drive. Police teams along with members of HSTU academic council raided different dormitories of university and recovered the arms. The university was closed sine die on June 30 after the general students launched agitation demanding punishment to 15 students for violating the discipline of the university.

Letters

The govt. distributed nearly 19 crore textbooks among the students of primary and secondary levels at the very beginning of this year. Those books were distributed free of cost with a view to ensuring education for all. Moreover, most of the textbooks are now available as online electronic books. It is obviously a praiseworthy action of the present govt. But the fact is that the students aren't interested in reading textbooks. They pay more attention to reading guidebooks available in the market. Hence, the creativity of the students is being greatly hampered. A textbook is a manual of instruction or a standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the demand of educational institutions. As the students do not read textbooks, they are not aware of the textual facts and they answer questions incorrectly. Although the govt. banned all kinds of guidebooks and notebooks, the publishers did not pay heed to it at all.

Hartal does not solve any problem. Rather it breeds more and new problems, confrontations and lead to sufferings of the people. Hartal costs a loss of taka two thousand crore countrywide a day. How many hartals have we observed during last two decades? According to a national Bangla daily (Bhorer Kagaj 26/06/2010) the Awami League has enforced 311 days and BNP has enforced 295 hartals.

The Daily Star has published at least two letters referring to modesty and dress code for women, which might reduce the incident of teasing (?). The dress code of any nation is inherited by cultural practice and is part of social norms and changing style. It is not necessary to challenge the freedom of choice of an individual as long as it conforms to civility and is publicly acceptable.

The report on the matter was published in most dailies on 11th July. The cost figure was indicated at around US$867 million in total, covering both foreign exchange needed and also the equivalent local taka, that is needed. This comes to Taka 606.9 crore (based on 1$=Tk70). If we consider a liberal interest rate of say 5 percent for financing this expansion, based on repayment period of say ten years, the additional cost of refining will be around 20 paisa per litre on the total refining capacity after expansion to 4.5 million ton annually!

Load shedding is a serious problem in Bangladesh for a long time. Students are facing a lot of problems as even the IPS is not being fully charged. As a result, when load shedding is taking place in different sectors of Uttara, the IPS is running. The buildings using generators are not in a better condition. The generator is consuming a lot of oil. Oil is a non renewable source of energy which is quite costly.

The 12th July last marked six months since a devastating earthquake shook the coast of Haiti. Former US President Bill Clinton who is also the President of Clinton Foundation recently visited Haiti to see for himself the situation and to supervise the relief and reconstruction works undertaken by the Clinton Foundation and other international agencies there. President Clinton in a recent e-mail wrote:” Despite the challenges, I remain committed to helping the people of Haiti build back better. Through the Clinton Foundation, as the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti, and now as the co-chair of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission along with Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, I will continue to strive to help the Haitians build the nation that they desire and deserve.”

Who was the richest Indian in history? According to Forbes magazine, it was late Nizam Osman Ali Khan (1886-1967), the ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad, whose wealth, in the purchasing power of the inflation-adjusted US dollar terms of 2008 would have been the stupendous sum of USD 211 billion dollars. The world's richest man living, Bill Gates pales in comparison, as he is worth only USD $56 billion, about one fourth of the Nizam's wealth. By the same yardstick the personal wealth of the present King of Saudi Arabia was a plain USD 30 billion.

The PCP article (18 July) is very lucidly and cogently written. I congratulate Engr. Nurul Islam for this. As mentioned by him in final analysis, the full veil is not an Islamic requirement but has developed as a survival technique for women in a predatory society ruled by ruthless warlords in the Middle East.

Till now I had no concrete idea about the meaning of illiterate. The other day at a public place somewhere in Houston, Texas, I happened to notice a person staring at a notice board trying desperately to figure out what the sign says.

A daughter and some of the grandchildren of former South African president Nelson Mandela were attacked by gunmen in Johannesburg as they returned home from a weekend birthday party for the 92-year-old statesman, police confirmed yesterday.

Arts & Entertainment

A weeklong group art exhibition, titled “Colour of Life,” is now on at Zainul Gallery, Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), Dhaka University. Dean of FFA Professor E.H.M. Matlub Ali formally inaugurated the exhibition on July 16. Theatre personality Mamunur Rashid and writer Masum Aziz were present as special guests at the event.

Last year Suborna Mustafa directed a single-episode play, “Akash Kushum” for ATN Bangla. Once again the brilliant actress takes on the challenge of directing a play. This time she will direct another single-episode play titled “Shunno.” Additionally Suborna herself has dramatised the play. Traupa Majumdar and Jitu Ahsan will perform the lead characters in the play.

OP-ED

A three-hour movie takes up to five hours to watch. Clothes must be ironed at least one hour before one is ready to go out. The microwave doesn't always work, so a hot meal is as chancy as a roll of dice. Between power cuts, favourite television shows are rare to catch. The last charge bar blinks on the mobile phone, while the user is worried sick about recharge. Tide may still stick to its guns, but time has lost its place in life. Now, even time has to wait for its hour to come.

What happened in Kampala is just the beginning!" So warned Abu Zubayr, the leader of al-Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the bombings in the Ugandan capital that killed more than 70 people who had gathered to watch the World Cup soccer final.

THE first prime minister of free Bangladesh" -- a phrase, associated with great honour and dignity. Yes, Mr.Tajuddin Ahmed, who happened to be the first prime minister of free Bangladesh rightly deserved the honour and dignity as stated above. He was a leader of great ability and farsightedness.

AFTER Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman it is perhaps Tajuddin Ahmed, his closest aide, who can be termed my favourite Bangladeshi politician. His intelligent and thoughtful role all through March 1971 turned him into my favourite hero.

Tajuddin Ahmad -- the first prime minister of Bangladesh was born on July 23, 1925 in Kapasia under Gazipur District (then Dhaka). Today is the 85th birthday of this great man, who is termed by many an "unsung hero." Maybe he was not totally unsung, but the song is almost always sung in a low voice, with much less volume than it deserves. I greatly admire this man as the executant of our national liberation, while I regard Bangabandhu as the organiser (1966-1970) and Moulana Bhasani as the dreamer (1957) of the liberation.

StarTech

Imagine you are sitting in your living room, looking at your friend's new photos on Facebook. Old friends start to send instant messages, and you have your email account open on a different window. Other links are also open, where you are browsing for information. Your television is also switched on and your cell phone rings, you pick it up, and while conversing, you try to read and send a text message. Looking obliquely from the corners of your eyes at the computer screen and someone enters your room and you finish your important family talks.

Still wondering which smartphone to buy? Which could best assist you in office work and provide best entertainment service at a time? Those, who are thinking of iPhone is the best solution, think again.